Confidentiality obligations do not apply to authorized

From the reader. The city of Mikkeli sold 2023 of its entire property Etelä-Savo Energia 49 percent to a foreign investment company Aberdeenille with 130 million euros. In connection with the sale, all the city’s trustees dealing with the matter had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which remained in the city’s possession.

The city councilors were left with the impression that a breach of the confidentiality obligation could result in significant financial liability. This essentially limited the mutual exchange of information related to the matter between trustees and their participation in public debate.

In March 2026, deputy ombudsman of the parliament Mikko Series stated in the related complaint decision EOAK/1600/2025 the following “trustees cannot be required to accept a confidentiality agreement, as a condition for obtaining the information they need in their position of trust, and the contract cannot interfere with the freedom of speech of trustees protected in the constitution”.

The public law professor said the same thing Tomi Voutilainen In the Länsi-Savo newspaper as early as December 2023, “the commitment limits the freedom of speech of trustees more than what is stipulated in the law, it has no legal basis”.

Mikkeli’s city government stated only after the deputy ombudsman’s decision in March 2026 that the confidentiality obligations have expired.

The decision of the deputy ombudsman is a significant precedent, which safeguards the freedom of speech and the right to access information of municipal trustees in matters related to the municipality’s finances, operations and ownership changes, without confidentiality obligations.

Jarno Strengell

city ​​councilor and member of the city board (sdp)

Mikkeli